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School of Education and Counseling radio spot - February 10, 2026
Transcript
Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University. Each school day, university school counseling interns are taking their training into more than 18 public schools in nine counties and districts in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, serving close to 10,000 students. Alaina Schrader, a lecturer with the School of Education and Counseling in the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences says those interns are doing important work.
Alaina Schrader: I think a lot of people are familiar with the idea of individual counseling. Yes, school counselors do that, but they also do things for all students. They provide school-wide initiatives. They do small group counseling. They're a part of collaboration with teachers and staff and deciding about what supports come into play when students are needing different things.
Shauna Johnson: What makes an effective school counselor?
Alaina Schrader: I think good school counselors are, of course, passionate, compassionate, caring individuals, very creative, ambitious, self-starters, not afraid to hop in there and do something. Not afraid to be themselves, being authentic and aligned with who they are.
Shauna Johnson: Brynn Benson, a first year Master's of School Counseling student from Scranton, Pennsylvania will be working in schools starting next year.
Brynn Benson: I am just so excited to help all kinds of students with all kinds of things, whether that be social emotional skills up until what they might want to do with their own futures. At the end of the day, students need support and school counselors are there to grant that support. Having administrations that invest in school counselors increase the support of students overall.
Shauna Johnson: Schrader says research shows when school counselors are appropriately staffed in schools, students do better.
Alaina Schrader: Our national organization recommends that there be one school counselor for every 250 students, and the national average is sitting at like 464. So, school counselors are responsible for way more students than is really possible to provide good care for. And so, people advocating in their local districts for more school counselors and more funding really make a huge difference.
Shauna Johnson: Recognized in February, National School Counseling Week highlights the critical roles school counselors play in supporting students' academic success, mental health, career development, and overall wellbeing. The main message, according to Benson.
Brynn Benson: We are all out here doing the best we can with what we have, and there needs to be more of us.
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